Prepayment gas meter



F. SMITH.

PREPAYMENT @As METER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26, 1917. Patented Jan. 17

3 SHEETS--SHEET l.

F. SMITH.

PREPAYMENT GAS METER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26 1917.

.Patented Jan. 17, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

BSMHH. PREPAYMENT GAS METER.

Infra--pl UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK SMITH, 0F DARBY, PENNSYLVANIA.

PREPAYMENT GAS METER.

Original application filed June 26,

fo all whom. t may concern-.-

Ee it known that l. FREDERICK SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Darby. in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful In'iprovements in Prepayment Gas Meters, et whic-h the following is a specification. i

This application is a division of my application ;tor Letters Patent, Serial Number 105,791.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in prepayment gas meters, and has for its object to provide a. prepayment mechanism so constructed and arranged as to prevent the fraudulent'use thereoit and to prevent an unscrupulous person from obtaining gas without paying for the same.

A further obj ect of the invention is to construct a coin handling mechanism for he prepayment dev'ice, which always turns in the same direction, thereby preventing the withdrawal of the coin after the mechanism has been set to supply a. certain amount of gas and also facilitating the operation of the device.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for throwing out of action the predetermining mechanism when the limit of its capacity has been reached, thereby preventing` injury to the device.

still further object ot the invention is to provide for the overthrowof the predetermining mechanisnr should the vgas controlled valve leak to prevent injury to the mechanisms.

Another object of the invention is to provide means or computing the gas used during any leakage ol' the controlled valve.

i further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism Jfor prepayment meters for pre-calculating and post-calculating the amount ot gas used.

Other Vobjects of the invention will be more fully brought out in the following description.

lVith these ends in View this invention consists in the details of construction and combination vot' elements hereinafter set iorth and then specifically designated by the claims.

ln order that those skilled in the art to Specification of ALetters Patent. Patented Jan, `17, 1922.

1916, Serial 1\To.105,791.A Divided and this application filed November 26, 1917. Serial No. 204,074.

which this invention appertains may understandV how to make and use the same, I will describe its construction in detail, referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this invention, in which- Figure l, is a front elevation of the upper portion oli' a. gas meter showing my 1mproved prepayment device attached thereto.

Figure 2, is a plan view thereof, the top wall of the meter being removed to more clearly illustrate the construction.

Figure 3, is a side elevation thereof, a portion of the valve housing and a portion of the casing` oi the prepayment device being broken'away to show the connection between the valve and the prepayment device.

Figure 1, isa side elevation of the` meter having the prepayment device removed.

Figure 5, is an enlarged plan view of the sleeveV and the connecting dog which connects the predetermining mechanism with the valve and which'provides for the overthrow ot' said predetermining mechanism.

Figure C, is a face view thereof.

Figure 7, is a section at the line 7 7 of Figure 6, looking in the direction ofthe arrow.

Figure S, is an enlarged side elevation-of the prepayment device, its cover or closure being removed to illustrate the interior construction.

Figure 9, is a section at the line 9-9 ot Figure S.

Figure l0, is a section at the line 10-10 of Figure 8, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Figure 11, is a section at the line 11-11 of Figure 9, looking in the direction of the arrow, showing the coin handling mechanism in position Jor admitting a coin.

Figure l2, is a similar view showing the coin handling mechanism turned to a different position and having the indicator removed'.`

Figure 13, is a section on the line 13-13 oi Figure 8 of the upper portion of the prepayment device, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Figure 14, is a section on the line 14-14 of Figure 13, looking in the direction of the arrow, having parts of the mechanism and casing broken away and showing the posi- Lso . arrow.

. Figure 18, is a sectionat the line 18-18 of Figure V16, looking in the direction of the arrow; and Y Figure 19, is an enlarged sectional view of VtheV predetermining mechanism showin@ the manner in which it is connected to its shaft. In carrying out my invention as here embodied 2 represents a gas meter having inlet.

, pipes 3 and an outlet pipe 4 and provided with the ordinary diaphragm (not shown), which transmits power and motion to the diaphragm shafts 5, these being connected by thejoint levers 6 with the crank 7 mounted upon the shaft 8, the latter carrying a worm gear 9, which latter meshes with a gearv 10' mounted on the indicator shaft 11, which is connected with the train of gears of theindicator or register 12, whereby the amount of gas used or passed through the meter is registered or indicated upon the dials 13.

On the indicator shaft 11 is mounted the worm gear 14 which meshes with the gear 15 carried by the transfer shaft 16, said shaft being formed of two parts 17 and 18, the lattertelescoping with the former, the parts being held in their adjusted positions by the `set screw 19. One end of this shaft 16 is .journalled in the bracket 20, and the other end is connected with the rate wheel shaft 21 in any suitable manner, said connection here shown as comprising a pin 22 passing through the end of the member 17 of the shaft 16, said pin registering with notches 23 in the socket 24 which is loosely connected with the projecting end of the rate wheel shaft 21.V

The inlet pipe 3 is provided with a valve `casing 25 in which is situated the valve seat 26 having a valve 27 coacting therewith, the

latter beingv pivoted by the stein 2SA to the arm 29 at 30, said arm 29 passing through an opening '31 in the valve casing and projecting into the housing 32 carried by the valve casing and in which is journalled theI Vshaft 33 said shaft .beingy 3ro )erl i )ached i e i Y to prevent the escapelof gas.

The' foregoing description relates to a inc- Ater of ordinai'y construction, and describes the parts to which my improved prepayment device is attached, but does not relate to my invention as my device may beV attached to any meter having similar parts. Y 34 represents the casing of my pre-payment device comprising a side wall 35 havingV holes 36 therein to register with the pins 34 on Vthe meter, a rear wall 38, a'front wall 39 andftop .and bottom walls 40 andY 41J respectively, the open side of the casing being normally closed by the vcover 42. j

in the casingis formed an opening 43 which extends partly into the side wall 35 and partly in the rear wall 38, and through this opening projects the housing V32 when the casing is applied to the meter, and at the saine time the trunnion 44 permanently carried by .the casing projects through an Vopening 45 in one of the side walls of the meter,

and on this .runnion is threaded the nut- 46,V

thereby properly holding the casing in position, and said nut is held against accidental displacement by the loclr'iiut 47.

The rate wheel shaft 21 is jou'rnalledY in the trunnion 44, and the inner end. lof said shaft 21 is supported by the supporting arm 146 loosely pivoted upon the stationaiiv rodV 147, said supporting arm 146 being provided withl a notch 48 adapted to register with the vshaft 21. On the square portion of the shaft 21 is removably mounted the rate wheel 49, which is in the form of agear and meshes with the gear 50 journalled upon the shaft 5l carried by the depending angular-support 52 pivoted to the shaft 53 and provided with a slot 54 which registers with the Vrod 147. Said support 52 and the supporting arm v146 are each heldin their adjustedV positions bv means of a thumb nut 55 or its equivalentU threaded `upon the. rod147fand having `a spacing member such asV a washer 56interposed between said support Vand the supporting` arm. ,Y .f

The gear 50 carries a'fpinifon 57-which is revolvable through said pinion, meshing `with the gear 58'inounted on the shaft 53V lfrom which depends the supp/ort The .gear 5S carries an intermittent or one toothed pinion .59 adapted to mesh with the v intermittent gear 60, which is-journalled on the shaft 61, said shaft being mounted in one of the walls of the casing and having its Vfree orVV inner endsupportedby a suppoiting` arm or strap 62 carried the shaft 53. rlhe intermittent gear is provided with an eXtra long hub or bearing 63, and this.

carries apinion 64 whicheoacts with the predetermining mechanism, or in other words mesheswith the double spiral or worin 65 having single iiange 66 at. one-end and a double flange 67 at the opposite end,the latter forming a groove 68 for a purpose to be .hereinafter described.

iiS

end of the shaft to form the blank space 72 Y of the same diameter as the deepest portions of the corrugations.

ln order that the shaft 69 and the predeterminingmechanism may be revolved simultaneously l provide a pin 73 which is carried by the spiral and projects from the inner circumference thereof to coact or register with the corrugations 71.

The forward end ofthe shaft 69 )asses through the forward bracket and projects into an opening 74 in the coin handling mechanism as plainly shown in Figure lil. Theco'in handling mechanism is plainly illustrated in Figures 11 to 18 inclusive in which 75 denotes the body having a coin pocket or cavity 76 therein provided with a mouth 77 acting one time as the inlet and another time as the outlet.

The body is also provided with a transverse arcuate notch 78 which communicates with the coin pocket 76 and also withthe groove 79 formed around a portion of the periphery of the body adjacent one face thereof, and at the opposite end of said groove is formed an opening 8O which communicates therewith and acts as the inlet to said groove. rlhe edge 81 or the wall of the notch 78 opposite the end of the groove 79 actsas a stopand isadapted to coact with the pin 82 carried by the housing 83 of the coin handling mechanism and projects from the inner face thereof. Said pin 82 registers Vwith the groove 79 at certain times and at other times projects into the space 84 between the face of the body and the front wallof the housing, and in order that the rotation of the coin handling mechanism may be stopped, when the pin 82 is out of registration with the groove 79, l provide a stop 85 which is carried by the body and projects from the face thereof as plainly shown in Figure 15.

The coin handling mechanism is revolved by the shaft S6 which passes through the front wall of the housing S3, and has mount- Ved thereon the handle 87. From the housing of the coin handling mechanism runs a coin chute 88 which terminates a short distance above the money drawer 89 in the bottom of the casing, said drawer passing through an opening 90 in the front wall of said casing.

In the upper portion of the housing S3 is formed a coin slot 91 and the lower portion of said housing terminates `short of the front wall of the casingv and beyond this is situated the bridge 92, thereby forming a coin slot 93 which leads to the coin chute 88.

The body 75 of the coin handling mechanism carries a ratchet gear 94 with which ccacts the pawl 95 pivoted as at 96 to the bridge 92 thereby preventing the coin handling mechanism from heilig turned but in one direction as shown by the arrow on Figure 18, and on the ratchet gear is pivoted a dog 97 as at 98 which is provided with a pin 99 on the side of the pivot point opposite the nose of said dog, and this pin works in the arcuate notch 7 8 and adapted at certain times to lie across a portion of the coin pocket 76.

Vhen a coin is placed in the coin pocket 76, said coin will engage the pin 99, forcing the same outward, thus operating the dog 97, causing the nose thereof to engage the ratchet pinion 100 which is carried by the shaft 69 and securely attached thereto.

rThe operation of the coin handling mechanism is as follows".-

The handle S7 is turned in the direction of the arrow shown on Figure 13 until the coin opening 77 in the body 75 is in alignment with the coin slot 91 in the housing 833,

at which time a coin may be inserted in the coin pocket 76. l hen the coin has been placed in the coin pocket the pin 99 on the dog 97 will be forced outwardly, causing the nose of said dog to engage the ratchet pinion 100 on the shaft 69.

The entire coin handling mechanism is then moved inward by sliding the same within its housing 83, vuntil the body 75 passes beyond the pin 82, at which time the coin handling mechanism may bc rotated in the direction shown by the arrow on Figure 13 until the stop 85 contacts with the pin S2, at which time the coin slot '77 will beA at the bottom of the device and partially or wholly covered by the bridge 92 to prevent thecoin dropping from the coin pocket.

During the rotation of the coin handling mechanism the dog 97 is in vcontact with the ratchet pinion 100 as shown by dotted lines in Figure 11, which will cause the rotation of the shaft 69 and likewise the double spiral. As the spiral is in mesh with the gear 64, which is held against rotation because of the intermittent gear 6() being locked, such rotation will cause the double spiral 65 to thread between the gear 6l and move forward alongthe shaft 69 or toward the coin handling mechanism thereby predetermining the amount of gas to be used.

When the parts are in this position and it is desired to place another coin in the device, the coin handling mechanism is moved outward or toward the front face of the housing 83, causing the opening S0 to pass by or register with the pin 82, until said pin is in alignment with the groove 79, which action will bring the coin slot 77 in the body 75 in alignment with the coin slot 93, permitting said coin to fall from the coin pocket and pass through the coin slot 98 into the coin chute 88, where it will slide downward and fallinto the coin drawer 89.

After the coin has fallen from the coin i 110 against the action of the spring 117 and when the pressure of the spiral 65 upon the dog k11a is relieved by the insertion ot another coin, said dog will be returned to its normal position by said spring 11T, until the stop 115 contacts with the straight edge 116 oi' the segmental 'flange 113, and thereafter the connecting dog 11i. the'sleeve 110 and the shaft will rotate in unison.

The amount of gas that will pass through a meter from a lealv valve is vrelatively small, and might furnish sutlicient fuel for aY ing dog V1141 rotated against the action of the Y spring 117, and independent of the shatt 33 beyond its normal position, the same being` termed the '/'ero position tothe negative side ot' the zero position, and a coin is then inserted in the device, the'. predetermining mechanism will be moved forward'a predetermined distance, and it that part of gas used is equal to the amount that can be purchased for the first coin"then theY inser- Ytion of said coin will move the predetermin- 'ing mechanism to the point which will permit the connectingdog 114 to return to the Zero position,but will not open the controlling valve. yThus the device has post-calculated the amount of gas used, and it is necessary to insert an additional coin before the controlling'valve will be opened.

When the additional coin is placed in the device the predetermining mechanism will be moved further forwardly, and will rotate the connecting dog 114 t0 the positive side of the zero position, causing the predetermining mechanism to pre-calculate the amount of gas used.V i

For an example, we will presume that it takes five revolutions of the rate wheel 49 to cause the intermittent gear 60 to move one step, then when suiicient gas has been used to produce five revolutions of the rate wheel or gear 419, the entire train of gears will be operated to move the double spiral rearv wardly, the same distance it was moved for- Vby revolving the gear 60, the pinion 57 the gear 58 and the intermittent pinion 59,.

which gradually changes the position of the upper edge of said drawer is in constant en single tooth onthe intermittent pinion, in this manner calculating theamount of gas to be used, and should half of the amount of ras called for by the insertion of the coin in the device be used, then the single tooth on 'the intermittent pinion will bemoved a half of a revolution. Then should another coin be inserted in the device, the spiral 65 will be moved forward a second predetermined distance, but the train of gears will remain stationary. By the continued use of gas the gears 49, 50 and 58 and the pinions 57 and 59 will be moved the additional half of av revo-` lution until it meshes with the intermittent gear 60, t-hus 'moving the same one step, which through the mediuln of the pinion 64 will move the spiral 65 backward one of the predetermining distances, and the continued use of gas will operate the Atrain of gears in themanner just described, until the spiral 6531s moved backward anl additional predetermining distance which will close the controlling valve. ,Y

From this description it will be noted that although the amount of gas called for by the insertion of one coin in the device has not been4 entirely used, and another coin is placed therein, it does not affect the amount of gas called for by the insertion ot the first coin, and the entireamount which the user has paid for will 4pass through the meter.

The cover 42 is provided with a catch 121 at its upper end, which is adapted to contact with and overlaps the lug 122 de- Vpending from the top wall 40 of the casing,

and said cover is further provided intermediate its ends with headed lugs or catches 123 which are engaged by ra pivoted latch 1211, one end being pivoted at 125 to theV casing, and the free end which raises, and brought into contact with the catches 123 being arranged to engage the keeper 126 carried by the rear wall of the casing, and said pivoted latch is raised to the horizontal position by the money drawer 89vwhen the latter is placed in the casing, and as the gagement with the latch it is impossible to accidentally displace said latch, thus' preventing the openino of the casing until the money'drawer is withdrawn, and then it is to be understood it is locked in the casmgs in any suitable manner.

It is to be noted that I have produced a prepayment device which will permlt the delivery of the entire amountof gas to be consumed that has been paid for, will p revent the concern supplying gas from being defrauded either by an unscrupulous person trying to disarrange the mechanism or by the continued use of a small amount of gas that might flow through the meter, caused by a leaky valve and whlch cannot be 1 njured by placing coins in the device after lts capacity has heen reached. or by continuing tlieuse of the gasa'fter the amount of gas paid for has beenrpaid.

j Of course I :d0 not Wish to be limited to the exact .detailsof construction Vas here shown, vas thesev may be varied Within the limitsof` theja'ppended claims Without de'- parting from the spirit of my invention.

AHaving thus fully described my invention, vvhat I claim as new and useful, is*

l. The coin handling lmechanism comprising abody having Aa coin pockettherein, and

provided with a coin slot, said body also having an arcuate notch therein and pro-- vided with ay groove having an inlet, said arcuate notch actinglas ythe outlet therefrom, a stop lug carried by the body adjacent the inlet tothe groove, a ratchet gear carried by the body and means for rotatingsaid coin handling mechanism.

2.,The coin handlingmechanism coinpris-V i ing a body havingv a coin pocket therein, and provided with a coin slot, said body having vvanarcuatevnotch thereinand provided with agioove having an inlet, said arcuate notch acting as the' outlet therefrom, a stop lug Vcarriedl by the body adjacentthe inlet t the igroove, a ratchet gear carriedby the Y body,means for rotatingsaid body, and a dog pivoted to the' ratchet gear provided with means projecting into the coin pocket,

`whereby said dogrWill be operated when a coin is inserted in's'aid coin pocket.

3. The coin lhandling mechanism*compris-V ing a body having a coin pocket thereirnand Y provided with a coin slot,'said body having an arcuate notch therein and provided with a groove having anrinlet, said arcuatenotch acting as the'outlet therefrom,'a stop lug carried by the body adjacent the inlet to the groove, a ratchet geark carried bythe body,lmeans for rotating said body, dog pivoted Vto the ratchet gear, and a pincarried by the tail of said dog arranged to move in the. arcuate notchV and projecting into the coin pocket, whereby said dog ymay be operated/by the insertion of a coin into said coin pocket. j

4. In combination with@ meter, a housing,

a body having a .coin Vpocket therein provided with a groove and having an arcuate notch in communication with the com pocket and groove, saidnotch acting as an outlet from said groove, stop projection carried by theoutervface of the body adjacent the inlet to `said groove, [said body being r ol tatably and slidably mounted inthe coin handling mechanism housing, means carried Vin the body and projecting through the housgear, anda pin carried by the tail endl thereof Working in the arcuate Vnotch and l.projecting into the coin pocket, whereby said dog Vmaybe actuated by the insertion oirfa: coin pocket to cause the nose of said dog to engage the ratchet pinion. Y

In testimony whereof, vI `have hereunto aHiXed my signature.

" FREDERICK SMITH. Y 

